#2 Are the usb ports accessible from the side of the tv so that once wall mounted they're easy to get at?
Yes.
On the back there are three HDMI ports, an internet port, a SCART port and an aerial socket.
On the side there are two USB ports. I ise one for an SSD drive. There's also a 'commom interface' slot couple of sockets that I think are for audio and a button that can be used to access all the functions if the remote is not working.